Today, Iran’s tonbak drumming scene is thriving. There are more and more places for young people to learn to play instruments and perform and a growing number of professional percussionists. Javad Alirezaei, a rising star of the Iranian classical music scene, told me that mastering the tonbak is a long process that requires finding a […]

Tonbak, sometimes written as Tombak is one of the most known and popular Persian musical instruments in Iran. It is a hollow Iranian instrument like a drum. In simple words, it’s carved from a single piece of wood, a hollow center is on the top and open from the bottom side. A goatskin or sheepskin […]